Thursday, December 20, 2018

Bernie is missing./Sanders, Feinstein Demand Congress Ditch Effort to Criminalize Pro-Palestinian BDS Campaign


Friends,

  Our colleague Bernie Brown seems to be missing once again.  He was to be at his room today to get help in assembling a new bed.  For whatever reason, it is believed he was not there.  Friends are asking if you have seen Bernie on Tuesday evening, December 18, or Wednesday, December 19.  Please let me know if you have seen Bernie.

Kagiso, Max
   
Sanders, Feinstein Demand Congress Ditch Effort to Criminalize Pro-Palestinian BDS Campaign
Israel Anti-Boycott Act would extend "U.S. legal protection to the very settlements the U.S. has opposed as illegitimate and harmful to the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace for more than 50 years," the senators write



December 19, 2018

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U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday urged congressional leaderships not to include in a must-pass spending bill a measure that would suppress free speech rights by criminalizing boycotts of Israel.
"While we do not support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, we remain resolved to our constitutional oath to defend the right of every American to express their views peacefully without fear of or actual punishment by the government," the senators wrote (pdf) to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The measure is the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), a revised version of which is being pushed  by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
Kate Ruane, senior legislative counsel at the ACLU, wrote last week that while the new iteration leaves out possible jail time as punishment "for American companies to participate in political boycotts aimed at Israel and its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories when those boycotts were called for by international governmental organizations like the United Nations," the legislation still represents "a full-scale attack on Americans' First Amendment freedoms," as violators could still face criminal financial penalties of up to $1 million.
"Even as amended," adds Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, "the bill would impose fines on American companies, nonprofits, and their representatives for refusing on human rights grounds to do business in settlements." He continues:
Yet firms operating in Israeli settlements both benefit from and contribute to serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and the bill would mean those acting to end complicity in serious abuses—the only way they can meet their responsibilities under the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights—could find themselves guilty of a crime.
In their letter to Senate leadership, Sanders and Feinstein note that the measure would extend "U.S. legal protection to the very settlements the United States has opposed as illegitimate and harmful to the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace for more than 50 years."
"At a time when the [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government is pursuing policies clearly aimed at foreclosing the two-state solution, it is deeply disappointing that Congress would consider choosing to penalize criticism of those policies," they continue.
Responding to reporting about the new letter on Twitter, U.S.-based anti-occupation group IfNotNow urged Schumer to see the call to reject "this horrific bill" as "what leadership looks like."
"Will u advocate for free speech or bend to the will of Jewish establishments?" the group asked.
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2 of the most powerful Jewish politicians are speaking out against this horrific bill, while @AIPAC
and @ADL_National support it@SenSchumer this is what leadership looks like. Will u advocate for free speech or bend to the will of Jewish establishments?https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-bernie-sanders-dianne-feinstein-urge-senate-leaders-to-scrap-anti-bds-bill-1.6762918?fbclid=IwAR3INrGPyBn1uQz5qsevnywzT5uk41irfdBYTbd_03KtK6G8viMxfuTfnlY 

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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs



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